Alumni
Double Win For First-Time Director
Double Win For First-Time Director
2012 was supposed to be the end of the world. It was also the year Billy Ngan was to graduate, and he saw in the doomsayers’ prediction a connection to his own fate: the world as he knew it was about to end.
That insight became the theme of two short movies he directed, which won first and third prizes in the HKU Video Competition Awards, an achievement all the more remarkable because Billy was a first-time filmmaker.
He had decided to try his hand at filmmaking when he was in his second year and had some spare time. He then spent nearly a year learning about filmmaking, acquiring the necessary equipment and finding people to help him.
Double Win For First-Time Director
“I wanted to ask, what if the end of the world happened and all we had done was study? I also wanted to show student life at HKU.”
The self-funded project focused on aspects of campus life such as student association politics, internships and a ghost story told during orientation camps. About 25 HKU students and graduates served as the cast and crew.
“We split the video into two because we thought there would be a better chance of winning one prize if we submitted more entries,” Billy said. “Winning two prizes was out of our expectations.”
The project led to an internship for Billy with Arts alumni and University Artists Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting and Alex Law Kai-yui. Billy, who majored in Linguistics and Media and Cultural Studies, hopes to work in the media in future.
The HKU Video Competition was held under the University Artists Scheme 2011-2012 and was generously supported by the Daniel Chan Fund.